Obstructed Views
by SpiritualxWolf
Summary: AU, Modern. The violent murder of a beautiful, innocent young woman has some of the wealthiest men from the world famous ShinRa Power Company involved. But things start to get a little twisted when a barmaid is called to be a witness in court. CloudxTifa.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own any of the characters, places, names, or anything of Final Fantasy VII. This story is purely fan made and made for the enjoyment of writing.

**Author's Note:** The continuation of this story will be solely based on the feedback I receive. So I encourage readers to please review if it sparks an interest. This is, obviously, going to be dark story (like usual), so expect the characters to sort of fall in line with the theme. And a word to the wise: This story will contain some graphic violence and crude language. Thanks and happy reading!

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><p><strong><span>Chapter I<span>**

"We therefore commit her body to the ground; Gaia to Gaia, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of eternal life within the Lifestream."

Death had once again, taken another life from the world. A life so innocent and pure, that this whole funeral just seemed so wrong to her. This was the second time…the _second_ _time_ death had taken away such a beautiful life from her. From her family and from all of her friends.

Tifa's brown eyes stared impassively at the red wood casket before her as she held her umbrella over her head. She watched the raucous and heavy rain fall against the casket and destroy the colorful bouquet of flowers in the middle. All of the deceased woman's close family and friends surrounded her coffin with black umbrellas to shield themselves from the gloomy weather. All of their watery eyes were watching the handcrafted wooden box as the priest lowly recited the last set of prayers.

Aerith Gainsborough's body was in that casket. Lifeless and gone. Distorted and grotesque.

A feeling of gracelessness fell upon her as she found herself still tearless compared to everyone else. She had thought that by the time the funeral came her mind would accept the fact that her friend was dead and move on from the shock and denial stage. But this was normal. She remembered her mother's funeral, her first one, as a young girl. She didn't cry until days after her funeral, when all the emotions hit her at once.

There was just something different about Aerith's funeral compared to her mother's. Something that _felt_ different. Indeed, she felt the contagious sorrow that infected everyone…but there was also a heavy dose of fear.

A sort of deep and hidden fear that continued to dangerously cultivate inside of her.

But she could also see fear in Yuffie's brown eyes as their gaze met across the casket. Her best friend stood next to her boyfriend as the tears fell down her cheeks. She was tightly wrapped in Vincent's warm embrace, struggling with the loss. She was dressed in a black, long-sleeved dress that came down just before her knees and along with some decent black heels. She swiped her dyed, electric blue bangs out of her eyes and combined back a small lock of her short, black hair before tearing her eyes away from her friend.

This was Yuffie's first funeral.

She quietly sighed and looked down at her black suede bootie shoes. Of all the people in the world, Aerith had to die. She was so young and full of so much life. She had helped save so many people at Midgar Hospital and was probably one of the best nurses there. And she had such a great life ahead of her. She had her dream job…she was going to marry the man she loved so much…

Aerith was definitely going to have a better life than she'd ever have. Compared to her, she was absolutely nothing. She was just some silly college graduate who couldn't find a job anywhere but at a sleazy bar in Midgar and had to either serve drinks to the overpaid, arrogant ShinRa employees or shaking her ass around in the dance cage. Hell, she was lucky she was able to find a conservative black sheath dress and some black tights to wear to the funeral. Someone like Aerith didn't deserve this death.

_But she didn't just 'die' like mom…_

_She was murdered._

Tifa shuttered as the haunting image resurfaced from the depths of her mind. She remembered seeing the gruesome and brutal crime scene. She was the first to see the dead corpse and the first to report the murder to the authorities. She remembered seeing her dirty body lying in the mucky grass, half naked in her torn and blood drenched clothes. Her once stunning visage was so viciously cut up and distorted that her facial bones were visible and there was hardly any skin left. Her fragile jaw was broken out of place and her nose was completely smashed into pieces. At her chest were larger and deeper cuts, like someone had taken an axe and crushed it into her. And all the blood…dear gods, the oozing blood…

How could someone be so cruel…so grisly to such a kindhearted woman?

What was their purpose?

What kind of godforsaken world was this?

_Stop._

She brushed away her dark brown bangs from her warm face. She exhaled loudly as she tried to calm herself down and remove the horrifying picture from her head. She could only imagine what Aerith's parents and family might be going through. What _Zack_ might be growing through.

_Zack…_

She remembered meeting him at Kalm University, where they easily and quickly became friends. But their friendship was short lived when he left college to join SOLDIER, which in time, lead him to become head of the Public Safety Maintenance Department of the world famous ShinRa Power Company. Eventually they ran into each other again at her workplace, the 7th Heaven bar, and their friendship blossomed once again. It was the same day he introduced Aerith to her, who a year later, had an engagement ring around her finger.

But it was also the same day Zack introduced _someone_ _else_ to her. He was his best friend he had met and fought with in SOLDIER…who too did his climb up the ShinRa Power Company ladder and became head of the Urban Development Department. She remembered the awestruck look on his face when she shook his hand and smiled. Little did she know how much that day would change her life forever.

She now regretted the day she met Zack's friend. She regretted having long talks with him after work late in the night. She regretted being with him and letting herself go with all of those damn feelings…

Those same, forbidden feelings she still had and couldn't let go of.

This was what fed the hungry trepidation entangled in her chest.

She was in love.

Why? Why did it have to be her to fall under his spell?

_Why did all of this have to happen to me?_

Tifa lifted her gaze from her shoes as she returned to the real world. She found that the funeral was already over and the crowd was slowly dissipating. She realized that it was just her, Aerith's parents, and Zack left at the casket. Aerith's grieving parents were discoursing with the priest, who was trying his best to comfort the couple in their time of loss. Her mother briefly glanced at her, but Tifa quickly looked away. There was nothing she could say them.

She started to walk away until she finally saw Zack emerge from the crowd to approach the coffin. He stood in front of the casket with his left hand resting on top. His top designer, solid black suit was drenched in water as he stood in the pouring rain. His short, spikey black hair was completely flat and stands of hair seemed to stick around the frame of his face as he stared at the occupied casket. His visage looked absolutely horrible, like he hadn't slept or eaten in days. His eyes were sunken in and dark circles had formed underneath his glowing eyes. He looked sort of pale and had a rough, 5 o'clock shadow going on.

She shook her head. It pained her to see her friend like this. Zack was always so classic, neat, and clean cut…

But what scared her most were his eyes. His bloodshot, mako eyes. Their usual look of warm blissfulness was long gone. And instead, they were contaminated with something foreign and wild. His eyes had yet to shed a single tear…and he didn't even look a tiny bit depressed or grieve stricken. There was nothing but a look of sternness as his mind fought back his emotions. She watched him swallow hard, and his other hand form into a tight fist. A darkness was eating his insides out.

Finding it unbearable to see her friend in such a state, Tifa willingly went over to Zack and placed a hand on his shoulder and covered him with her umbrella. She could smell an overpowering scent of alcohol on his clothes and in his breath.

"Zack…" Tifa half whispered through the gray rain. "I–"

He looked at her with a harsh look and suddenly she went speechless. This new, darker side displayed seemed to have fully consumed him. The man that was once her close friend was now…someone inhuman. Someone she didn't know. And again, she could feel the fear inside of her mutate.

"_What_?" His rough tone was like a knife, easily able to slice through her.

Her mouth continued to hang open, wordless and in disbelief. She knew it was natural for someone to be disturbed by the sudden death of their loved one, but she felt that Zack was taking it to a more extreme level.

_Gods, Tifa!_

_Say something!_

"I'm…I was just–I'm so sorry…"

For a split second, she swore she saw the smallest light of her true, caring friend as she held their gaze. But the moment was lost when he shook off her hand. Tifa tucked her hand back down at her side and awkwardly lowered her head to stare at wet green grass.

_Why the hell do I even try to help?_

She silently cursed to herself.

_He just needs time to heal…_

_He needs to be alone and accept what's happened._

"I'm sorry, Tifa, but I can't…" Zack stopped and swallowed hard. Her dark eyes returned to look at him again. "You need to leave."

She brushed back her rich, long hair behind her ears and nodded. She was about to turn away until he began to speak unexpectedly.

"Stay away from him."

She froze.

She could feel her heart pump faster and the blood rushing through her veins.

"Stay away from him, Tifa. I don't _ever_ want to see you with him." He growled as his voice started to rise. "I don't want to see you get hurt….I don't want any of this to _ever_ happen again."

She remained silent. His words were making her chest ache even more.

"I want to hear him confess in court. To me, to everyone, to _you_." He looked back down at the casket.

"And then I want him to suffer. Suffer like–" His neck recoiled, and he twisted his head away from Tifa.

Her name hit a heartstring. He couldn't say it. It was just too agonizing.

Eventually silence fell over the two and only the sound of rainfall could be heard. But it was broken when he finally began to silently weep.

"I won't…" Tifa muttered in sympathy as she saw the hot tears form in his tired eyes. "I won't."

Her word was the least she could do for him. But in all honesty…she didn't know if she could keep it.

"But Zack…if you need anything or need someone to talk to, Yuffie and I are here for you…" She said as she fought back her own tears. "We'll help you get through this all the way."

"Yeah…" He whispered as he turned to face Tifa.

He played an ugly, crooked smile on his face as a fierce look of determination colored his eyes.

"I'll make him pay."

She shook her head. "I'm very sorry Zack," She lowly repeated. "But I…I really need to go."

Before he could speak again, Tifa turned and walked away and headed for the gates of the cemetery. She could feel his eccentric eyes trailing her as she walked away, burning on her back.

She couldn't speak to him anymore. She couldn't take this anymore.

Zack wanted nothing but sweet revenge on his lethal friend…

The man she had come to know and love.

Cloud Strife.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I give many, many thanks for the reviews! I will definitely continue. I am also extremely happy to see some of my wonderful past readers again. (: -waves- Thanks again, and keep reading and reviewing!

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><p><strong><span>Chapter II<span>**

9:34 P.M

"Ten minutes, Yuffie!" Tifa warned as she was putting on her dramatic earrings. "Are you about ready?"

"What! Ten minutes! I thought you said twenty!" Yuffie called out from the closed bathroom door.

"I did. Ten minutes ago."

She could hear the young woman curse aloud and hurriedly rattle through the millions of cosmetic products. Tifa sighed as she looked into the mirror of her dresser and examined herself. Her dark eyes were lined with black liquid eyeliner, in the usual sophisticated manner she always wore it in. Her lips were touched with a light pink shade and her skin was painted with light body glitter. She was dressed in a v-neck, two toned black and gold sequin dress that hugged her curves and reached to the middle of her thighs.

This was the required look for work. Well…just barely, compared to some of the other women who worked at the 7th Heaven nightclub who wore practically nothing. She always tried to keep herself at least somewhat decent.

Working at 7th Heaven was far from her dream job, but she wasn't complaining. Jobs were hard to come by these days due to the low and slow economy, so she was thankful. And it wasn't like she was getting a pathetic paycheck either. She worked in the upper floor of the club that was exclusive to only the top ShinRa workers, and where she was raking in her income. It was also where she met some of her greatest friends at.

And a murder.

_Ahhh craaaap…_

She prayed to the gods he wouldn't be there tonight.

_Wait, what day is it?_

It was Tuesday, she remembered. Four days since the funeral. There was a slight possibility that he wouldn't be there since she was just serving drinks tonight. She danced only on Wednesdays…which were the nights he was be _always_ there.

_If he's there...I'll just need to avoid him._

Yeah right. Avoid the man who would only take her service and who gives her the good chunk of tip that makes up the most of her income.

She grabbed her black peep-toe pumps in frustration and sat on the side of her bed as she slipped them on her feet. She knew she of asked for off days. What the hell was she going to do now?

Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate in her dress pocket. She quickly fished it out and opened it to view the text message. It showed Vincent's name.

"_Where are you guys at?"_

Her brows furrowed together in confusion until she looked over her shoulder at the digital clock on her nightstand.

10:03 P.M

"Shit!" Tifa cursed. She scrambled to her feet and grabbed her apartment keys. "I'm gonna go and get us a cab, Yuffie! We're already late for work!"

"WAIT! Wait, wait, wait!" Yuffie shouted. She ripped open the bathroom door and ran out, almost breaking her ankles in her silver pumps. She took a quick approval glance in the mirror and adjusted her one shoulder, dark blue mini dress before heading out.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The 7th Heaven entrance was chaotic like it was every night. There was one long red rope that divided the entrance into two lines: one exploding with eager, chatty common folk and the other practically vacant. It was quite obvious which line lead to the lower level of the club and which lead to the VIP section.

Tifa hurriedly paid the cab driver and dragged Yuffie out with her. She ran up to the club and met with the bouncers, Biggs and Wedge.

"Heyyy, Tifa! Yuff!" Biggs half yelled over the loud voices of the people waiting in line. "Aren't you ladies a little late?"

"GAIA, don't remind me…I'm takin' the back entrance!" Yuffie huffed out as she ran passed him and Tifa and hurried around the back.

Tifa gave a nervous smile as spoke to Biggs. "Hey."

His face fell a little when he noticed her uneasiness. "Is everything all right?"

She bit her lower lip. She needed to know if he was here.

"Can talk to you inside for a second?"

Biggs scratched at the red bandana around his head, and he shrugged. "Yeah. Lemme tell Wedge."

He turned and to face his larger, oblivious friend was busy trying to get the rest of the people inside of the club. Biggs spoke to him in his ear for a second before returning to Tifa was a nod of approval.

She grabbed his arm and took him inside behind the door. They could hear the soft techno sounds and laughter echo down the carpeted hallway and feel the floor vibrate from the powerful beats.

"What's wrong?" He asked. "Is it…about the funeral? I can help you get some off time. I can talk to Barret and–"

"No, no…it's not that. I just wanted to know if, uh…you saw Cloud come in."

He frowned. "Oh…_him_." He adjusted his crummy suit in disgust. "Yeah I saw him."

Tifa hung her head.

_Great…_

"You let him in?" She muttered.

He sighed. "Yeahhh. I had to let his murdering ass in. Barret's orders."

"_What_? And you listened to him?"

"Well I kind of _got_ to, Teef. He's the boss and the dick who's runnin' this joint."

"But…why? Why did he let him in? Has he not been watching any of the news at all?"

"Look, he said that he wasn't a convict _yet_…and you know he won't turn away any business with ShinRa. The greedy bastard…you should have told him you didn't want him here. He'd listen to you. You're practically like his daughter and all."

She exhaled loudly and looked off to the side. Barret was right. Cloud wasn't convicted of anything yet until the trial…and already everyone and the media was labeling him as a callous, avaricious murder. But she knew the trial wouldn't matter. There was too much evidence that all pointed to him.

And at this point, there was nothing she could do. She was just going to try and focus on work and try to keep her word for Zack's sake.

"I'll talk to him later…don't worry about it, Biggs."

"Sure, sure. So when are you appearing to court to send _his _ass to jail?"

_Yet another headache to worry about…_

"Tomorrow afternoon. Yuffie is coming too."

"You _and_ Yuffie testifying?" He chuckled to himself. "At least you'll be there. I don't think the jury is going to believe some rogue, crazy girl with bright blue bangs hanging in her face."

"Hey, come on. Be nice. If they don't believe anything she says, then they won't believe anything I say."

"Alright, alright. I get your point. Anyways, we gotta get back to work. Jus' lemme know if you need anything, 'kay?"

"Thanks." Tifa said. She turned and quietly headed up the steps and entered the world of music and strobe lights.

Neon lights enchanted the walls and ceiling of the nightclub as neon blue lights lit the carpeted floor of the VIP upper balcony lounge. Compared to the lower level, or 'the pit' as the employees called it, it was much more modern and futuristic looking. There were clear tables that lit up and were shaped in various geometric shapes. There were luxurious black leather couches and movable fancy chairs. In the center was a large bar that also lit up and changed in different neon colors. In the far back were secluded rooms which were usually reserved by ShinRa executives. Near the edge of the balcony were several separated laser 'dance cages', where the bars are also made of red neon lights.

Below them in the pit was an ocean of moving and swaying bodies. Both the dance floor and bar was packed full of loud people, already getting drunk and grinding it out everywhere like it was New Years. In front of everyone was Vincent Valentine, working as the famous DJ of 7th Heaven. She watched his head bob a little and his foot tap to the beat of the music. He had his signature red headphones on and looked as if he was totally absorbed in his own world of music.

Vincent was yet another great friend of hers and a faithful man to Yuffie. Even though he was plain and enigmatic with little to say, he had a good heart. He was a very responsible person and someone could always depend on him…which made him a perfect match for Yuffie. And heck, if it wasn't for Yuffie meeting him at this club, they'd both be homeless in the slums.

"Tifa!" Yuffie waved her over at the bar. She followed over and soon found a tray of beverages shoved in her face.

"Take this to four." She said.

Tifa looked down at the drinks. Champagne.

_Really? Champagne?_

_I'd hate to party with this guy…_

"Uh…sure…"

_At least it's away from his table._

Yuffie gave her a reassuring smile and wink, like she knew what she was thinking.

"Don't worry, Teef. I gotchu!"

She returned a smile that was fake right down to its core. There was no way she could avoid him the whole night. She looked down at the drinks and strode over to table four.

After taking orders after orders from Yuffie, she ended up working the whole night without even crossing to the other side of the club to the table where he always sat. But as she was getting close to the end of her shift, one of her coworkers approached her with a troublesome look.

"Is something wrong, Jessie?" Tifa asked the woman who awkwardly scratched the side of her arm as she held her empty tray close to her body.

"Well I noticed you weren't serving table thirteen tonight…so I went ahead and took Mister Strife's order…"

Tifa shifted her weight in awkwardness. Her developing relationship with Cloud was obviously getting to be pretty well known around the nightclub.

"I started serving him drinks like three hours ago, and he hasn't stopped ordering since."

"Okay. So he's drunk." She replied with a heedless tone.

_So what?_

"More like completely wasted. He's gotten to a point where if he drinks anymore, he'll be on his way to the emergency room getting his stomach pumped and replacing his liver."

Tifa winced at the thought.

"Oh…so…you stopped serving, right?"

"Yeah. But when I did, he gave this…_weird _look and started to raise his voice. And then he started talking about…" Jessie stopped. Her hazel eyes were suddenly stricken with sadness as she looked down to her heels.

Tifa sighed. "I know…"

"But he also said something about _you_." Tifa looked up. "Then he started back up with all the commotion again...and I didn't know what to do since he wasn't going to listen to me. So to calm him down, I told him…um…that I'd get you."

_Shit shit shit shit…_

"He seemed like he really wanted to talk to you tonight. Even before he ordered, he was hoping he would speak with you."

A wave of guilt crashed into her. She couldn't run away now.

"I'm really sorry…" Jessie mumbled.

Tifa gave her a weary smile before taking the empty tray from her hands. "Don't be. I understand."

She left her friend and headed for this table down further in the club. She could see Yuffie in her peripherals staring at her and shaking her head in disapproval. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her hands were starting to shake. Once again, fear had ignited in her chest and in a matter of seconds it spread through to her entire body.

She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to speak with him. Whatever he wanted to say to her was scaring the living daylights out of her. Because she had a feeling that she knew what he was going to talk to her about. And she didn't want to know. She didn't want to know the cold, hard truth to spill from his mouth and rip her heart apart. She hoped he would be too drunk to speak.

At table thirteen, Tifa found the drunken man sitting on the leather couch and slumped over the table, looking just as bad as Zack did at the funeral. His feathery, spikey blond hair sat untamed on his head with some pieces covering his drained, mako eyes. His handsome countenance showed nothing but enervation as his hands mindlessly poured him another shot of whiskey. He was wearing his typical and preposterously lavish black suit that was tailored to fit his muscular frame perfectly. But it looked carelessly put together, and he seemed to have spilt some of his whiskey on his plain black shirt underneath his jacket. He looked like he was just on the verge of passing out.

He didn't notice her as leaned his head back and downed another shot. There was an empty bottle already on the table, and he was close to finishing his second one. As he again, began to pour another shot, Tifa quickly intervened as she sat down next to him. She didn't care if he was a killer or not, Cloud was still her friend. She didn't want to see him die drowning himself. She wanted no more loss.

"Cloud! Stop, stop!"

His lethargic eyes were suddenly wide awake as she forcefully removed the shot glass and whiskey bottle from his hands. He instantly turned away and shamefully shielded his face as he saw her upset look.

"What the _hell_ are you doing? Are you just trying to kill yourself?" She said irritably.

"_Yes_."

"What?"

He fell quiet for a moment.

"They said you weren't working today…" He said slowly in a low, drunk tone.

"I was just…I was busy…somewhere else," She replied.

He shook his head and turned to face her with accusing and hostile eyes. He feed off her negative energy to revive his own.

"You think _I _killed her, don't you?" He hissed.

She said nothing.

A chilling laugh rumbled in his throat. "You do, _don't you_!"

With a quick swipe of his arm, he sent the two whiskey bottles flying off the table and crashing against one of the walls. The unnatural noise caused heads to turn in their direction.

Tifa just sat there, scared shitless out of her mind and trying to stay unruffled.

"I thought that _you_ above all these fucking people…would at least consider me innocent…" The blond slurred as he rubbed his temples and calmed himself.

_But I_ saw_ you_…

_I saw you with her._

"Tifa…"

He folded his arms on the table and dropped his head down. The once boiling energy was suddenly lost.

"…I need to tell you something…"

She held her breath, bracing herself for his words.

But he was quiet again, and she could hear nothing but the blaring music.

"…Cloud?"

Nothing.

She cautiously reached out and lightly shook his shoulder.

"Cloud?" She repeated.

He was out cold.


End file.
